Washing machine



June 28, 1966 w. L. SHELTON 3,257,830

WASHING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGJZ INVENTOR- Wl NSTO N L. SHELTON HHS TTORNEY June 28, 1966 w. L. SHELTON 3,257,830

WASHING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 F'IG.3

INVENTOR. WINSTO N L.. SHELTON H s ATTORNEY thereto.

United States Patent 4 3,257,830 WASHING MACHINE Winston L. Shelton, Jeflersontown, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,195 6 Claims. (Cl. 68-133) My invention relates to an improved automatic fabric washing machine.

Automatic fabric washing machines have been available for several years which wash fabrics by causing relative motion between the various portions of the fabrics and between the fabrics and the liquid in which they are immersed. These machines have produced this relative motion by means of a number of different structures; however, virtually all of them produce the relative motion by agitating the liquid and the fabrics contained therein.

One mechanism that is often used is an agitator which extends vertically upwardly within a fabric and liquid receiving basket and oscillates back and forth in a horizontal plane within the basket. This structure produces good washing results; however, there is a limit to the speed at which such a structure can be used to wash the fabrics because as the speed of oscillation is increased the turbulence in the liquid is increased and the fabrics tend to become tangled. Other machines utilize agitators having wobble action and still others utilize agitators which execute an orbital type of motion. Both the wobble agitators and the orbiting type agitators in prior art inachines are not completely satisfactory because the motion of the agitator tends to force fabrics into the space between the agitator and the basket causing thefabrics to become tangled and damaged. In most prior art machines the basket is mounted within an imperforate tub and both are filled with liquid. This is wasteful because a large amount of liquid is contained between the tub and basket and serves no useful purpose during washing operation.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide an automatic Washing machine structure which accomplishes a more eflicient cleaning of the fabrics.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved automatic washing machine structure for effecting circulation of the fabric cleaning liquid within the container for the liquid and the fabrics.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved fabric washing machine which prevents the fabrics to be cleaned from being drawn into the space between the agitator and the basket.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fabric washing machine in which the effective level of cleaning liquid within the fabric-receiving basket is maintained with the use of less liquid.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a fabric washing machine including an improved mechanism for moving the agitator relative to the basket to clean the fabrics, to rotate the basket and agitator together for centrifugal extraction of the cleaning liquid and to stop the basket and agitator at the conclusion of centrifugal extraction. I

In one form of my invention, I provide a washing ma chine having a container including a tub for receiving liquid and a perforate basket within the tub for receiving fabrics to be washed. A wobble type agitator is mounted within the basket for flexing the fabrics in the container and suitable means is provided for introducing liquid The agitator and container are so constructed and the agitator so moves with respect to the container during washing operation as to cause circulation of the liquid within the container for an improved washing acice tion. A clothes guard is placed between the agitator and the container to prevent entry of the fabric into the space between the agitator and the container while permitting circulation of the liquid within the container.

suitable drain pump arrangement. In order to drive the container and agitator in the various modes of operation I provide a wound-spring type clutch mechanism (known in the art as an L.G.S.-spring clutch mechanism) which connects the container and agitator to the drive motor. When the motor rotates in a first direction, the clutch mechanism rotates the agitator drive shaft while holding the container stationary to provide for circulation of the liquid for cleaning the fabrics. When the drive motor rotates in the opposite direction, the clutch mechanism rotates the agitator drive shaft and the container together for centrifugal extraction. When the motor is turned off at the end of centrifugal extrac.

tion, the clutch mechanism quickly stops rotation of the agitator and container.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the' claims which form the concluding portion of this specification. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a fabric washing machine which includes one embodiment of my improved structure, the view being partially broken away and partially in section to illustrate details;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, sectional; side elevational view of a portion of the structure included in FIGURE 1, land FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational View of a portion of the structure included in FIGURE 2. Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown an automatic fabric washing machine 10 having a basket 11 to receive fabrics to be cleaned. The lower wall 12 of the basket is formed with a downwardly sloping portion 13 surrounding a central annular portion 14. The annular portion extends upwardly within a generally vertical agitator 15 which is mounted within the basket 11. The basket 11 is provided over its side wall 16 and the outer portion of its bottom wall 12 with perforations 17. Additional perforations 18 are provided in the sloping portion 13 inwardly of the lower edge of the agitator 15. The basket is provided with a balance ring 19 to help steady the basket when it rotates at high speed.

The basket is disposed within ,an outer imperforate tub or casing 20 which serves as a liquid receptacle, the

basket and tub together serving, in effect, as a container means for fabrics and the liquid in which they are to be washed and rinsed. The tub 20 is rigidly mounted withi in an appearance cabinet 21 which includes a cover 22 I hingedly mounted on the top portion 23 of the cabinet to provide access through an opening 24 tothe basket 11. A gasket 25 may be provided so as to form a seal between the top of tub 20 and the portion 23 of the cabinet thereby to prevent escape of moisture and moistair into the cabinet around the tub. The rigid mounting of tub 20. within cabinet 21 may be effected by any suitable means.

As a particular example of one such means, I have provided a plurality of rigid strap members 26, each of which is secured at one end to an inturned flange 27 of the cabinet and at its other end to the outside of the tub 20.

The agitator 15 includes a center post 28 and a plurality of water-circulating vanes 29 joined at their lower 7 ends by a depending skirt 30 which is received within a To effect a removal of the liquid at appropriate times, I provide a fabric or clothes guard 31. The center post 28 is flared outwardly adjacent the vanes 29 so as to form a cavity 28a between the agitator and the central portion 14 of basket 11. It can readily be seen that the top or upper end of the agitator extends above the maximum liquid level which can be reached and the tub and basket 11, the water level being controlled in a conventional manner.

Both the basket 11 and agitator 15 are movably mounted. The basket is mounted on a spin tube 32 and the agitator on an agitator shaft 33 extending upwardly within spin tube 32. The basket and agitator are driven by a reversible motor 34 through a system including a transmission indicated generally at 35 and a clutch mechanism indicated generally at 36. The transmission 35 and clutch mechanism 36 function so that when motor 34 is rotated in one direction the agitator shaft is rotated to impart a wobble motion to the agitator while the basket is held stationary. Conversely, when motor 34 is driven in the opposite direction, the agitator shaft and spin tube are rotated together in order to spin the basket 11 and agitator 15 at high speed for centrifugal liquid extraction. In addition to operating the transmission 35 and clutch mechanism 36, motor 34 also provides a direct drive to a pump structure, generally indicated at 37, which may include two separate pump units 38 and 39. Pump 38 has an inlet which is connected by a conduit 40 to an opening 41 formed in the lower wall of tub 20. Pump 38 also has an outlet which is connected by a conduit 42 to a suitable drain (not shown). Pump 39 has an inlet connected by a suitable conduit 43 to the interior of tub 20 and an outlet connected by a conduit 44 to a nozzle 45. Nozzle 45 is positioned to discharge a stream of liquid down into a filter 46 mounted around the upper end of agitator 15. Each of the pumps is substantially inoperative in the direction of rotation in which it is not used.

In order to isolate vibrations from the stationary structure, the washing and centrifuging system, formed from the motor 34, transmission 35, clutch 36, basket 11, and agitator 15 is supported by a suitable suspension structure. For example, one suitable structure includes a bracket member 47 with the clutch mechanism 36 mounted thereon and the transmission 35 mounted to the under side thereof. The bracket member in turn is secured to upwardly extending rigid members 48 and each of the upwardly extending rigid members is connected to a cable 49 supported from the top of the machine. While only a portion of the vibration isolation system is shown in FIG- URE 1, such a vibration isolation system is fully described and claimed in Patent 2,987,190, issued on June 6, 1961 to John Bochan and assigned to General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention.

In order to accommodate the relative movement which occurs between the basket 11 and tub 26 without any danger of leakage between them the stationary tub 20 is joined to the upper part of clutch 36 by a flexible bolt 56.

Hot and cold water are supplied to the machine through conduits 51 and 52 which are adapted to be connected to sources of hot and cold water (not shown). Conduits 51 and 52 extend into a conventional mixing valve structure 53 having solenoids 54 and 55. Energization of solenoid 54 permits passage of hot water through the valve to a hose 56 and outlet 57 for filling the tub. Energization of solenoid 55 permits passage of cold water through the valve to the hose 56 and outlet 57, and energization of both solenoids permits mixing of hot and cold water in the valve and passage of warm water to hose 56 and outlet 57. Hose 56 and outlet 57 are positioned to discharge the water into basket 11; thus, when one or both of the solenoids 54 and 55 are energized, water passes into.

basket 11 and tub 20.

The level to which water rises in the basket and tub may be controlled by any suitable liquid level sensing means. In one typical arrangement for doing this an opening 58 is provided in the side of tub 20 adjacent the bottom thereof. Opening 58 is connected through a conduit 59 and tube 66 to a conventional pressure-sensitive switch (not shown) which may be positioned in control panel 61 of machine it As the water rises in basket 11 and tub 20, it exerts increasing pressure on the column of air trapped in tube 66 and, at a predetermined pressure level, the column of air operates the pressure-sensitive switch to shut off whichever of solenoids 54 and 55 may be energized. It will be understood that this occurs when the water is at a level within the tub 20 which, at a maximum, is substantially below the filter 46 and top of basket 11.

The control panel 61, which may also be referred to as a backsplasher, may have suitable manually-operated members such as that shown at 62. Member 62 may be used to control, for instance, washing and spinning speeds, water temperature, water level Within tub 20 and basket 11, etc., for the cleaning of different types of fabrics.

Referring now specifically to FIGURE 2, in order to provide for two-speed operation of the washing machine the transmission 35 is constructed as a two-stage, planetary gear speed-changing mechanism. A two-element sun gear 63, having a lower gear element 63a and an upper gear element 63b, is fixed to the upper end of motor rotor shaft 64 with lower element 63a engaging a planet gear 65 and upper element 63b engaging a planet gear 66. The gear ratio between the sun gear element 63a and the planet gear 65 is different than the gear ratio between sun gear element 63b and planet gear 66. The planet gears 65 and 66 are rotatable in a cage structure 67. The planet gear 65 also engages an internal ring gear 68 while the planet gear 66 engages an internal ring gear 69. In order to enable the motor to attain spin speed wound-spring clutches 7t and 71 are mounted around the outside circumference of the ring gears 68 and 69 respectively and are provided with annular tabs 72 and 73 respectively. In order to control the speed of operation of the machine an electro-magnetically operated solenoid 74 is provided which moves a stop member 75 so as to selectively engage one of the annular tabs 72 and 73. In order to transfer motion from the-transmission 35 to the basket 11 and agitator 15, the cage is splined to the agitator shaft 33 With the stop member 75 in the position shown in FIG- URE 2, the annular tab 72 is firmly held in position, thus holding Wound-spring clutch stationary while tab 73 and wound-spring clutch 71 are free to rotate. When reversible motor 34 rotates rotor shaft 64 in a first, or agitation, direction sun gear elements 63a and 63b rotate planet gears 65 and 66. Since wound-spring clutch 71 is free to rotate, ring gear 69 is also free to rotate and planet gear 66 merely causes ring gear 69 to move, without transferring any motion through the transmission. Since stop member holds clutch 70 stationary, the frictional force between clutch 70 and ring gear 68 causes the diameter of clutch 70 to be reduced so that it firmly seizes upon, and prevents movement of, ring gear 68. Thus the movement imparted to planet gear 65 by sun gear element 63a causes planet gear 65 to precess around ring gear 68, carrying with it cage 67 to move the agitator shaft 33 in the agitation direction.

When motor 34 rotates rotor shaft 64 in the opposite, or spin, direction the frictional force between clutch 70 and ring gear 68 causes the diameter of clutch 70 to be increased and ring gear 68 slips within clutch '70. Thus, the movement imparted to planet gear 65 through sun gear element 63a when the motor rotates in the spin direction may cause movement of ring gear 68, precession of planet gear 65 around ring gear 68 or a combination of these two movements. This enables motor 34 to quickly attain spin speed. With the load of wet clothes in basket 11, a large torque force is required to begin rotation of the basket and to increase the speed of the basket at low speed levels. Therefore, when motor 34 begins to rotate in the spin direction the torque required to move the basket 11 is greater than the frictional force between spring clutch 70 and ring gear 68, and most of the force delivered by motor 34 is transferred through sun gear element 63a and planet gear 65 to rotate ring gear 68 while only a small portion of the force delivered by motor 34 is transmitted to the basket 11 through shaft 33. Thus, the motor is free to quickly come up to spin speed under only a small torque load. As the speed of the basket increases the torque required to further increase the speed becomes less and more of the force delivered by motor 34 is used to accelerate basket 11 while less'is used to rotate ring gear 68. When basket 11 has reached spin speed the force required to maintain the speed is less than the frictional force between wound-spring clutch 70 and ring gear 68; therefore, clutch 70 holds ring gear 68 stationary and planet gear 65 precesses around ring gear 68 to transfer all movement of motor 34 to basket 11 through shaft 33.

With stop member 75 in its other position, that is engaging annular tab 73, wound-spring clutch 71 is held stationary while wound-spring clutch 70 and ring gear 68 are free to move. In this case planet gear 65 merely rotates ring gear 68 while the interaction of planet gear 66 and ring gear 69 is substantially the same as that between planet gear 65 and ring gear 68 when stop member 75 is in the position shown in FIGURE 2. With stop 'member 75 in either of its two positions the cage 67 is the output member of transmission 35 and, since the gear ratio between sun gear element 63a and planet gear 65 is different than the gear ratio between sun gear element 63b and planet gear 66, the speed of rotation of the cage varies, depending upon which ring gear it held stationary. Therefore a two-speed operation is provided in both the agitation and the spin modes of operation.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, the clutch mechanism 36 is provided in order to control the operation of the machine so that rotation of agitator shaft 33 selectively causes the agitator to move for washing fabrics while the basket 11 is held stationary and causes the basket 11 and agitator 15 to rotate or spin together for centrifugal extraction. The clutch mechanism 36 is constructcd as an L.G.S.-spring type mechanism. An input hub 77 is splined to the agitator shaft at 78 and extends along the shaft in an end-to-end relationship with spin tube 32. A barrel-shaped spring clutch 79 is positioned around the input hub 77 and spin tube 32. The spring clutch 79 includes a reduced diameter upper end 80 which engages the outer wall of spin tube 32, a reduced diameter lower end 81 which engages input hub 77, and an enlarged center section 82 which normally does not contact any other elements. The upper end 80 includes an axially extending tab 83 which is received in a slot 84 in spin tube 32 so that the upper end of barrel-shaped spring 79 is firmly attached to and always moves with spin tube 32. A tubular brake hub 85 is firmly attached to spin tube 32 adjacent slot 84 for rotation therewith and extends axially downwardly around the outside of the upper portion of spring clutch 79. A movable brake rotor 86 is mounted around the outside of the lower portion of spring clutch 79 in end-to-end relationship with the brake hub 85. The upper end of brake rotor 86 is provided with an annular recess 87. In order to selectively lock the brake hub 85 to the brake rotor 86 a wound-spring connector 88 is mounted around the outside of hub 85 and is received within the annular recess 87 so as to engage both the brake hub 85 and the brake rotor 86. In order to selectively lock brake rotor 86 against rotation, a wound brake spring 89 is mounted about the outer surface of brake rotor 86 and is provided with a tab 90 that is secured to clutch housing91.

When the motor 34 is run in the first direction, cage 67 also rotates agitator shaft 33 in the first direction so as to cause the agitator 15 to clean fabrics contained in basket 11. In this mode of operation it is desirable that the basket 11 remain stationary since any movement of the basket reduces the effectiveness of the washing action. The clutch mechanism serves to hold the;

input hub 77 slips within spring clutch 79. This frictional force tends to cause spin tube 32 to rotate also because the tab 83 of spring clutch 79 is received in slot 84 in spin tube 32. However, any movement of spin tube 32 in this direction also rotates brake hub in the first direction and, since spring connector 88 is wound in the opposite direction from clutch 79 the frictional forces between brake input hub 85 and spring connector 88 cause the diameter of the spring connector to be reduced and the spring connector therefore firmly seizes upon brake hub 85 and brake rotor 86. This transfers 4 any rotation of spin tube 32 in the first direction to brake rotor 86. However, since brake spring 89 is wound in the same direction as spring connector 88, rotation in the first direction by brake rotor 86 causes brake spring 89 to firmly seize upon the brake rotor. Since one end of brake spring 89 is secured to the stationary clutch casing 91 by tab 90, as soon as brake spring 89 seizes upon brake rotor 86, brake rotor 86 is held stationary. Therefore, basket 11 being connected to brake rotor 86 through spin tube 32, brake hub 85' and wound-spring connector 88, the basket is held stationary.

When cage 67 turns agitator shaft 33 in the opposite or second direction the friction between input hub 77 and the lower end 81 of spring clutch 79 causes the spring clutch 79 to tend to elongate, thus reducing the diameter of the clutch so that the spring clutch 79 firmly seizes upon the input hub 77 and spin tube 32, securely locking them together. Therefore, the agitator 15 and basket 11 are rotated together to centrifugally extract liquid from fabrics contained within the basket. Although brake hub 85 rotates with spin tube 32, the friction between brake input hub 85 and connector 88 tends to expand the connector 88, since the connector is wound in the opposite direction from wound-spring clutch 79. This results in connector 88 slipping on the surface of brake hub 85 and brake rotor 86 so that no movement is imparted to brake rotor 86.

At the end of the centrifugal extraction step or period of operation, motor 34 is turned off and the friction force resulting from cage 67 rotating agitator shaft 33 in the first direction disappears. with Wet fabrics, tends to continue to rotate, carrying with it spin tube 32. Since the tab 83 at the upper end of spring clutch 79 is received in slot 84 of spin tube 32 the spring clutch 79 will continue to rotate. This causes a reverse frictlon force on the lower end of spring clutch 79 that expands the coils so that the enlarged center section 82 firmly seizes upon the inner surf-aces of brake hub 85 and brake rotor 86, thus securely locking the brake hub to the brake rotor. Since the brake hub is still rotating in the first direction, the brake rotor will also be rotated in the first direction and will continue to slip within brake spring 89; however, the coefficient of friction between "brake rotor 86 and brake spring 89 is sufiicient to quickly stop rotation of the mechanism,

including the basket 11 and agitator 15.

Referring again to FIGURE 2, in order to provide a more efficient washing action the upper end 92 of agitator shaft 33 is machined so that its axis is non-parallel to the axis of the lower end 93 of the agitator shaft. A hub 94 is mounted around the upper end 92 by means of two bearings 95 and 96 so that when the hub 94 is restrained from rotating the hub is caused to wobble about a nodal point (this point being the intersection of the axis of the upper end 92 and lower end 93 of agitator shaft 33). The

basket.

In order to restrain the hub 94 from rotating, a flexible boot 98 is provided. The upper end of the boot 98 is,

However, the basket, loaded securely fastened to the hub at 99 while the lower end of the boot is securely fastened to the spin tube at 100. A flexible boot is utilized in order to allow some relative movement between 'the hub 94 and spin tube 32 while preventing the hub 9 from rotating when the spin tube is held stationary.

In order to mount the basket on the spin tube a hub 101 is provided, having two hub halves 102 and 103 which are splined to the spin tube 32 at 104 and 105 respectively for vertical positioning and torsional restraint. The upper ends of the hub halves are threaded to receive a spanner nut 106 while the lower ends are flared outwardly to form a skirt 107 which mates with an inwardly inclined section 108 of the annular portion 14 of basket 11. The upper end of annular portion 14- is flared outwardly at 109 to provide a bearing surface for spanner nut 106. In order to assemble the basket 11 on spin tube 32 the hub halves 102 and 103 are placed around the spin tube and positioned by utilizing splines 104 and 105 and are held in place by any suitable manual means such as a resilient band placed around the outside of the hub halves. Then the basket is inserted over the spin tube until inwardly inclined section 108 of the basket comes into contact with the skirt 107. At this time the spanner nut 106 is threaded on the upper end of the hub halves until it comes into firm engagement with the outwardly flared end 109 of annular portion 14. With this construction the spanner nut 106 serves both to lock the hub halves 102 and 103 together and to secure the basket to the spin tube.

In order to accomplish liquid circulation as the agitator 15 wobbles about agitator shaft 33, I provide a number of perforations 110 in the agitator center post 28 between the vanes 29. Thus, as the agitator wobbles, liquid is forced inwardly through the perforations 110m the portion of the center post 28 which is moving radially outwardly and into the cavity 28a between center post 28 and central portion 14. Although a small amount of this liquid may flow outwardly through the openings 110 of the other side of center post 28, the space between the lower end of skirt 30 and the bottom wall 12 of the basket offers substantially less resistance to the liquid; therefore, most of the liquid drawn in through openings 110 flows outwardly between skirt 30 and wall 12. This causes circulation of the liquid within basket 11 to enhance the cleaning action of the machine.

In order to prevent the agitator from drawing clothes into the gap between the skirt 30 and wall 12 the fabric or clothes guard 31 is provided. This guard includes a generally vertical annular wall or ring member 111 which fits loosely about the outside of skirt 30. The upper end of the annular wall 111 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 112 which substantially closes the gap between the skirt 30 and the wall 12. The lower end of annular wall 111 is provided with an inwardly extending flange 113 which is disposed under the lower end of skirt 30 and functions to limit vertical movement of the guard. Thus, the fabric guard is free for limited tilting movement and limited telescoping movement with respect to the skirt 30. Instead of flange 113, the guard may be formed with a number of inwardly extending spaced legs.

As the agitator wobbles within the basket, the skirt 30 is caused to execute an orbital type of motion which causes the vertical spacing of the skirt with respect to the sloping portion 13 of lower wall 12 of basket 11 to be constantly changed. In fact, there will be oppositely disposed areas of greatest and least separation which progress angularly around the circumference of skirt 30 and sloping wall 13 as the agitator 15 wobbles. The portion of the skirt which is at the point of least separation at any particular time holds the adjacent portion of the guard against the bottom wall 12 of the basket and prevents fabrics from being drawn into the gap between the skirt 30 and wall 12. At the same time, the portions of the guard adjacent the agitator where the agitator is more remote from the bottom wall 12 are free to telescope or move upwardly along skirt 30 and the water being forced 8 outwardly by the pumping action of the agitator will flow between the guard 31 and the bottom wall 12 of the basket. Thus the clothes guard 31 functions to prevent fabrics from being drawn into the gap between the agitator 15 and the bottom wall 12 while simultaneously allowing the pumping action of agitator 15.

If an agitator similar to that shown at 15, were employed which execu ted an orbital movement about a vertical axis extending upwardly through the center of annular portion 14, the resultant orbital type of horizontal displacement of its skirt with respect to the sloping portion 13 of lower wall 12 would cause a similar varying vertical displacement between the agitator skirt and lower wall 12. The fabric guard 31 could be used similarly in such an arrangement to prevent fabrics from being drawn between the agitator and the basket.

The liquid which is contained between the basket and tub of an automatic washing machine is essentially wasted as far as washing action is concerned. Any reduction in the effective height of water within the tub without reducing the water level in the basket allows the use of a smaller amount of water and thereby effects a substantial saving of money for the user. The pumping action of agi tator 15 is utilized to reduce the height of the water in tub 20 without reducing the height in basket 11. In order to accomplish this reduction of water height in the tub, perforations or openings 18 are provided in the lower wall 12 of basket 11 radially inwardly of skirt 30. Thus water is also drawn into the space between the basket 11 and agitator 15 through openings 18 as the agitator 15 wobbles and is forced outwardly into the basket through the gap between the skirt 30 and the lower wall 12. This action reduces the height of the water between the tub 20 and basket 11 and raises the height of the water within the basket; however, water within the basket above the level of water within the tub tends to flow outwardly through the openings 17 into the tub to equalize the height of water. By a proper selection of the number and size of openings 18 with respect to the size and distribution of the openings 17 any desired height differential between the water level in the basket 18 and the tub 20 during washing of fabrics may be obtained. For example, to increase the height differential the total area of perforations 18 is made larger in comparison to the total area of openings 17.

While in accordance with the patent statutes I have described what at present are considered to be the preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the.

invention, and I therefore aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid and a basket mounted in the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator extending upwardly within the basket for wobble motion therein,

(b) the lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

(0) said agitator including a plurality of openings communicating with said cavity,

(d) means for effecting wobble motion of said agitator to draw liquid into said cavity through said openings and to discharge it between said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket, and

(e) a guard loosely mounted between said agitator and said basket to prevent entry of fabrics into said cavity while allowing discharge of liquid from said cavity.

2. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid and a basket mounted in and spaced 9 from the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator extending upwardly within said basket for wobble motion therein,

(b) the lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

(c) said agitator including a plurality of openings communicating with said cavity,

(d) means for effecting wobble motion of said agitator to draw liquid into said cavity through said openings and to discharge it between the lower edge of said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket,

(e) said basket including a plurality of openings radially inwardly of the lower edge of said agitator and communicating with said cavity,

(f) said agitator including means for also drawing liquid into said cavity through said openings in said basket and discharging it between said agitator and said basket upon Wobble motion of said agitator, thereby reducing the level of liquid between the basket and the tub and raising the level of liquid within the basket so that less liquid is required to wash the fabrics.

3. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid and a basket mounted in the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator extending upwardly within said basket for wobble motion therein, 1

(b) tr e lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

() means for effecting wobble motion of said agitator to cause movement of fluid between said lower end of said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket,

(d) guard means loosely mounted about said lower end of said agitator and tiltable in response to wobble motion of said agitator to allow movement of the liquid between said lower end of said agitator and said basket while preventing entry of fabrics into said cavity.

4. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid and a basket mounted in the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator extending upwardly within said basket for wobble motiontherein,

(b) the lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

(c) means for effecting wobble motion of said agitator to cause movement of fluid between said lower end of said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket,

(d) a guard loosely mounted about said lower end of said agitator and including a portion extending under said lower end of said agitator to retain said guard about said lower end,

(e) said guard being tiltable in response to wobble motion of said agitator to allow movement of liquid between said lower end of said agitator and said basket while preventing entry of fabrics into saidcavity.

5. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid and a basket mounted in the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator extending upwardly within said basket for wobble motion therein,

(b) the lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

(c) said agitator including a plurality of openings communicating with said cavity,

(d) means for effecting wobble motion of said agitator to draw liquid into said cavity through said openings and to discharge it between said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket,

(e) a guard including a ring member loosely mounted about said lower end of said agitator,

(f) said guard having a first flange extending outwardly from said ring member to close the opening between said lower end of said agitator and said basket,

(g) said guard being tiltable to allow the liquid to flow outwardly between said agitator and the basket while preventing entry .of fabrics into said cavity, and (h) said guard also having a second flange projecting inwardly from said ring member under said lower end of said agitator to retain said guard about said lower end of said agitator.

6. In a washing machine including a tub to receive fabric cleaning liquid, a basket mounted in and spaced from the tub to receive fabrics to be cleaned; a fabric flexing system, including:

(a) an agitator shaft extending upwardly within said basket,

(b) an agitator mounted on said shaft for flexing fabrics in the basket as the shaft rotates,

(1) the lower end of said agitator being spaced from said basket to form a cavity,

(2) said agitator including a plurality of openings communicating with said cavity,

(0) means for rotating said shaft to cause the lower end of said agitator to move in an orbital manner so as to form an area of greatest separation between said agitator and said basket, said area of greatest separation progressing around the circumference of said agitator as said agitator moves,

((1) the motion of said agitator drawing liquid into said cavity through said openings and discharging it between said agitator and said basket for flexing fabrics in said basket,

(e) a guard including a ring member loosely mounted References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,745,595 2/1930 Altorfer 68-133 2,255,505 9/1941 Dunham 68-133 2,751,773 6/ 1956 Woodson 68-23 2,821,076 1/ 1958 Castricone 68-1-31 2,947,159 8/1960 Fernandez 68-23 3,102,408 9/ 1963 Pelensky 68-131 X 3,102,410 9/1963 Doyle 68-23 WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A WASHING MACHINE INCLUDING A TUBE TO RECEIVE FABRIC CLEANING LIQUID AND A BASKET MOUNTED IN THE TUB TO RECEIVE FABRICS TO BE CLEANED; A FABRIC FLEXING SYSTEM, INCLUDING: (A) AN AGITATOR EXTENDING UPWARDLY WITHIN THE BASKET FOR WOBBLE MOTION THEREIN, (B) THE LOWER END OF SAID AGITATOR BEING SPACED FROM SAID BASKET TO FORM A CAVITY, (C) SAID AGITATOR INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CAVITY, (D) MEANS FOR EFFECTING WOBBLE MOTION OF SAID AGITATOR TO DRAW LIQUID INTO SAID CAVITY THROUGH SAID OPENINGS AND TO DISCHARGE IT BETWEEN SAID AGITATOR AND SAID BASKET FOR FLEXING FABRICS IN SAID BASKET, AND 